CamAWiSE Mentoring Programme 2023

 

 

 

The CamAWiSE Mentoring Programme

Update: Applications for the 2023 cohort are now closed.

The CamAWiSE Mentoring Programme aims to connect students, researchers and professionals in STEMM and support them in their professional development. The programme allows participants to make new connections, expand their exposure and insight into professional areas beyond their own, and gain further skills relevant for their professional or their personal lives. This is an inclusive programme and we welcome applications from all genders and different locations.

We are pleased to support the professional development of women in STEMM again this year through our Mentoring programme.

The CamAWiSE Mentoring Programme launched in 2020 as a pilot, and has run yearly since. The programme will run for six months, from June to December 2023. Anyone with an academic or a professional interest in STEMM can apply, independent of their career stage, gender or location. There is no prior knowledge of mentoring required to participate as a mentor. 

Mentors and mentees will be matched by CamAWiSE using the feedback provided on the application form. Further information about the programme is available in the participant Handbook. Ukrainian participants please checkout the handbook in Ukrainian.

 

Support for women from diverse backgrounds

We want the Mentoring programme to be an opportunity for professional developments for women in STEMM from a wide range of backgrounds. To this end, this year we are driving two initiatives to include women mentees from Ukraine and from sub-Saharan Africa.

Support for Ukrainian women in STEMM

We want to support Ukrainian women affected by the war in Ukraine. We invite Ukrainian women in STEMM to apply to participate as mentees in the 2023 programme. Participating mentees will be provided with CamAWiSE membership and we will seek to support them in having bilingual mentors and translating resources from the mentoring activities. 

Collaboration with Sierra Leone AWiSE and Science Resources Africa

We are pleased to pursue the collaboration we started last year with the Sierra Leone Association of Women in Science and Engineering (SLAWiSE) to include a group of mentees from sub-Saharan Africa.

SLAWiSE is a regional network for Women in STEM in industry, enterprise and academia. SLAWiSE is an initiative developed from the Science Resources Africa Programme, and it organizes capacity building/networking meetings as well as access to mentoring to build and preserve the participation of women in STEM fields.

You can read more about our collaboration and the programme in this Handbook. If you are applying via the collaboration with SLAWiSE, please complete this application form, which is tailored to participants from this collaboration.

Programme schedule

CamAWiSE will run online initial orientation sessions for mentees and mentors at the launch of the programme, all participants are encouraged to attend the orientation session. During the programme, CamAWiSE will also host cohort calls for mentees to support them in setting and developing their goals, and as an opportunity to share experiences with other participants.

We recommend that the mentor and the mentee meet once a month. Where mentor and mentee are based at different locations, the expectation is that meetings will take place online, but the format of the meetings (in person or online, length and the medium for communication) is to be agreed between mentor and mentee. 

If you have any questions or would like more information about the program, please do contact us at info@camawise.org.uk.

Why mentoring?

Mentoring is a potentially rich source of learning for both parties, benefiting mentors and mentees with opportunities to gain leadership skills, to give back to the community and expand their networks. It allows the mentee to gain guidance and encouragement, support around work/ life balance, self confidence and new professional perspectives. But mentoring does not only benefit mentees, it provides mentors with opportunities to gain leadership skills, and to give back to the community.

Many of today’s successful leaders have participated in a mentoring programme that helped to empower them. These mentees are often willing to mentor up-and-coming leaders as well. Studies have shown that 71% of women will accept an invitation to act as a formal career mentor.

 

Benefits for mentors and mentees